possible to syphon from VE tank?

[mov]

Last Sunday when i started my car, I had a big cross warning on the display saying Contact dealer, then ABS, then ESP, then Engine lights and back to Contact Dealer. The fuel guage also appeared to be dead?
The car appeared to run OK so I thought I'd take it to dealer Monday, but I drove it to the shop. It stalled and would not start with the same message showing,(I guess the same would have occurred Monday anyway).
Roadside service (NRMA) said as it's a computer problem, we'll have to tow it to the dealer, to which I agreed.
They spent some time on it and asked if I had any fuel in it. I said yes, 1/3- 1/4 tank last time I looked but I do recall my guage showing nothing (not even a small rise). They eventually said they had to drop the fuel tank (and exhaust and cross memeber) to check and discovered there was no fuel in the tank!!
I said this was impossible but accepted what they showed me and thought was it possible to be syphoned??
I had no low fuel warning at any time and I have driven the car for 2 years and am familiar with it's sounds. I calculated it has travelled 380km since fill up, which is low compared to my norm of about 450.
They want to charge me for the time as it is not a warranty issue....
Any thoughts? :cry:

 

[CSP]

Impossibe...

Sounds like you ran out of fuel. The fuel guage won't move if the tank's empty.

 

[Cursed CX8]

there would be a drain plug or area you could remove the fuel line from the tank, like where the filter goes. Im sure you could drain some of the tank with that, but not all of it

 

[CSP]

Yeah that's more likely... If someone was going to take your fuel, more chance of doing it under the car.

 

[Reaper]

Last Sunday when i started my car, I had a big cross warning on the display saying Contact dealer, then ABS, then ESP, then Engine lights and back to Contact Dealer. The fuel guage also appeared to be dead?
The car appeared to run OK so I thought I'd take it to dealer Monday, but I drove it to the shop. It stalled and would not start with the same message showing,(I guess the same would have occurred Monday anyway).
Roadside service (NRMA) said as it's a computer problem, we'll have to tow it to the dealer, to which I agreed.
They spent some time on it and asked if I had any fuel in it. I said yes, 1/3- 1/4 tank last time I looked but I do recall my guage showing nothing (not even a small rise). They eventually said they had to drop the fuel tank (and exhaust and cross memeber) to check and discovered there was no fuel in the tank!!
I said this was impossible but accepted what they showed me and thought was it possible to be syphoned??
I had no low fuel warning at any time and I have driven the car for 2 years and am familiar with it's sounds. I calculated it has travelled 380km since fill up, which is low compared to my norm of about 450.
They want to charge me for the time as it is not a warranty issue....
Any thoughts? :cry:

Don't know about syphoning - never tried. I hope it is difficult but would be suprised if it is impossible. The fuel flap locking device on mine is excellent and I don't see how you could get it off whilst locked without breaking it.

As for the payment bit... As annoying as it may be I think you might be up for the $$$. The dealership is entitled to be paid for their time, either by you for service items or Holden for warranty issues.

Reaper

 

[naf33n]

i wouldnt say is impossible. just time consuming as you would need a really thing tube, but as reaper said, you couldnt really get to it without damaging the cap.

spose it is possible to go from underneath.

ive even heard of people putting bungs or taps in the bottom of neighbours tanks, at night stroll over and grab a sneaky 10 litres, do that once a week, they most likely wont notice, you save approx 15 bucks each time, all adds up at the end of the year

 

[andyman]

i cant believe the dealer didnt try putting fuel into before dropping the tank, considering there is so much in the way of the tanks in these, go underneath an see if bolts heads of marks on the from tightening/removing, might be trying to rip you off

if thats what they did id say they have very poor judgment on jobs


edit: did they actually show you the empty tank?

 

[mov]

I did see the empty tank, I was surprised they could not check for fuel any other way. The customer service guy said they follow a documented process when investigating this type of fuel fault and it instructs them to remove fuel tank for confirmation.
They will reassemble, put in 20 litres and run through the diagnostics - hopefully get it back Wednesday if they find nothing (and the bill), although I hope they do as apart from me being the fool, it makes no sense.
Had I thought I'd run out of fuel, I would have just organised a Gerry can and avoided all this....

 

[CSP]

Just ask for documented PROOF there wasn't anything wrong before you agree to pay the bill...

 

[mov]

Great news!
Holden refitted the tank, put in 20 litres of fuel, performed some further tests and discovered the reading from the fuel sender did not provide the reading they expected. They did not elaborate but they said they replaced the sender unit and now all is ok, and all work performed covered by the warranty. Apart from the 20 litres of fuel, there was no charge!
Huge relief for me and might explain why readings were erratic and no chimes sounded. A good day.:thumbsup::w00t: